5 Recipes Using Cream of Mushroom Soup

Looking for something to take along to a picnic, potluck or family get-together? You're in luck if you happen to have a can of cream of mushroom soup (and a few other simple ingredients).

Just cook up some noodles (rotini, penne, farfalle or any large pasta noodle will work), and when the pasta's just about cooked, throw some chopped up broccoli, green pepper and onion into the pot of boiling water and finish out the cook time -- about 4 minutes. After draining, add tomato, shredded cheese, parsley, basil and oregano. Stir in cream of mushroom soup until the noodles and veggies are well coated, and then refrigerate. Once it's chilled you'll have a delicious pasta salad that's ready to take to any event, or even to feature at a Wednesday night dinner table.

This Mexican-style favorite calls for sour cream, frozen spinach, cheese, onion and, of course, cream of mushroom soup. Just mix one chopped onion with a pound of shredded Monterey jack cheese. Wrap the mixture in flour tortillas and place the tortillas in a baking dish. Top with spinach (thawed and drained), soup and sour cream, then bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes. Soon you'll have warm, chewy, cheesy enchiladas with a savory mushroom and spinach flavor.

You can easily add meat to this dish -- ground or shredded chicken, beef and pork are all good options. Either include the cooked meat in the filling or cover the enchiladas with it before you pour on the soup. For added spice, toss some of your favorite peppers in with the cheese mixture.

Easy home-cooked meals that don't take a lot of prep work are a winner in most households. Mushroom chicken tetrazzini looks and tastes complicated, but it's unbelievably simple.

Just mix one can each of cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup and cream of celery soup in a bowl with 2 tablespoons garlic, a quarter cup whipping cream, 8 ounces sour cream, a half cup parmesan and a half cup shredded cheddar. Stir in 3 cups of cooked chicken and a cup of frozen (or canned) peas. Combine the mixture with one package of cooked (al dente) thin spaghetti and put everything in a greased baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, remove the foil, top with 1 cup shredded cheddar and bake for another 5 minutes until the cheese on top is melted.

You won't believe how great this creamy noodle dish tastes. The best part is that it's easy to change up by swapping out nearly any creamy soups. Try it with cream of broccoli and cream of asparagus, or even just three cans of cream of mushroom, if that's your thing. You can also add canned mushrooms (to make that flavor really stand out), jalapeños for a little kick and cooked onions for some subtle flavor.

Cream of mushroom soup is no stranger to the holiday dinner table -- it most often appears in the classic favorite green bean casserole. But topping beans isn't the only way you can incorporate this soup into holiday side dishes. Everyone expects it to show up in casserole, so why not change it up?

Cream of mushroom soup and just one onion can add a lot of flavor to otherwise bland mashed potatoes. When you boil the potatoes, add a small onion, cut into wedges, to the water to infuse some of its flavor. Then, mash the potatoes with cream (or milk), a little bit of butter and a can of cream of mushroom soup. You'll get a super creamy mixture that's got a great flavor -- something a little out of the ordinary.

But what if not everyone in your family is a mushroom fan? No problem. Just make regular mashed potatoes and use the soup as an optional mushroom gravy.

For a fun twist on an old favorite, replace the ricotta in your best lasagna recipe with a mixture of one can of cream of mushroom soup and a quarter cup of milk. It's got more flavor than boring old ricotta cheese anyway, and is much kinder on the wallet.

Don't have a fave lasagna recipe? No problem. To start from scratch on this dish, mix 1 pound of cooked ground beef with 2 cups of the pasta sauce of your choice. Choose a mushroom marinara sauce if you really want the mushroom flavor to pop. In a separate bowl, mix a can of cream of mushroom soup with a quarter cup of milk until the mixture is smooth. Using cooked lasagna noodles, create alternating layers of noodle, beef mixture and soup mixture in an 11 x 7 x 2 inch baking dish. Then top with a cup of shredded mozzarella and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.